W.H. pushes back on House Dems

The White House is pushing back against complaints from House Democrats that President Barack Obama is undermining their prospects for 2010, distributing a memo authored by a senior administration official detailing what the White House is doing to preserve control of Congress.

Highlighted in the document, and detailed in an attached spreadsheet, are all the campaign appearances top members of the administration from the president on down have made for congressional Democrats.

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“ The president, vice president, first lady, Cabinet officers and senior staff have participated in 187 political events in the last 18 months, all with the intention of directly supporting candidates on the ballot in 2010 or building up the infrastructure of party committees,” reads the memo, obtained by POLITICO. “40 more events are currently or tentatively scheduled and dozens more will be organized in the next few months.”

The barely veiled reminder was circulated among senior Democrats in Washington on Tuesday, including on Capitol Hill. It was written just hours before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and angry members of her caucus lashed out at the chief House liaison for White House press secretary Robert Gibbs’ admission Sunday on “Meet the Press” that Democrats could lose the House. Tensions between House Democrats and the White House have been simmering for months, with Pelosi and her chief lieutenants fretting that Obama isn’t being aggressive enough in taking on Republicans and are overly concerned with the fate of the party’s Senate majority.

A White House official emphasized that the memo was part of a regular update of the administration’s political activities, but Obama officials also want it known that they’re hardly standing by and watching as the party loses control of one chamber of Congress.

Under a subject line that reads, “Principal Political Activity Benefiting House and Senate Incumbents and Candidates,” the memo noted that the Obama-run Democratic National Committee has committed $50 millions “in support of races across the country for 2010.”

It listed precisely what administration officials had done for the two congressional campaign committees: 12 events total plus an upcoming event in August the president has tentatively scheduled.

And as for just the House: “The president, vice president, members of the Cabinet and senior staff have participated in 68 events benefiting 77 House incumbents and candidates (some events raised for more than one candidate).”

A senior administration official translated the numbers into more direct English: “The whole notion that we’re not doing enough or that we have a Senate bias is [BS].”

Alluding to Vice President Joe Biden’s efforts on behalf of some of the most imperiled House Democrats, this official added: “Try to convince Joe Biden that he’s wasted his time campaigning for 40 of their frontline members.”

Biden, who has been designated as the administration’s political point man for House Democratic campaigns, will be on the road three of seven days a week campaigning for candidates, this official said.